marginaleye
SOC-12
I've been reading about the trans-Pacific Manila Galleons and the trans-Atlantic Treasure Fleet of Spain's colonial empire, and was wondering whether something similar could happen in the Traveller Universe. I'm envisioning a large and particularly well-equipped freighter (something like Oberlindes Lines' "Emissary"), making long (but infrequent) runs across entire sectors of rather sparsely-populated space, with only brief stops for wilderness refueling en route.
The big question that comes to mind is what sort of valuable cargo would justify making such voyages at Tech Level 11 or 12. I suppose one could come up with some kind of special "unobtainium" (perhaps an organic product that cannot be easily synthesized, like Herbert's "melange"), but anything that rare and valuable would be a significant addition to the Universe, and would have unexpected ripple effects. Furthermore, since Traveller tries to be hard(ish) science fiction, inventing "unobtaininum" that doesn't fit nicely into the periodic table of elements and/or flouts known physical processes cuts against the aesthetic grain.
I'm tentatively envisioning a "Manila Galleon" route set during the Interstellar War period, running from Terra out to a colony located far to Rimward. Terra would, at that point, be right at the cusp between Tech Levels 11 and 12. The Terrans had just discovered how to build Jump-3 drives, but lacked the ability to synthesize Zuchai crystals capable of storing and discharging the additional energy needed for three parsec jumps safely and reliably (the early prototypes tended to deviate from their planned "breakout" coordinates due to power fluctuations, and suffered catastrophic drive failures after making a few successful jumps). I believe it's canonical that natural Zuchai crystals tend to be longer-lasting than synthetic ones, so all this seems plausible.
At this point, Terra was establishing "throwaway" colonies far out to Rimward as "insurance." One of these colonies just happened to be established on, or close to, a planet that was well-stocked with large and particularly pure Zuchai crystals. Since the Terrans were desperate to build Jump-3 warships, they suddenly took notice of this hitherto-neglected colony, and began sending out freighters loaded with compact-but-valuable cargos (like electronic components and high-tech biomedical products), that returned carrying Zuchai crystals for the burgeoning fleet.
Obviously, as Terran technology advanced, their ability to synthesize Zuchai crystals improved. Furthermore, as they took territory from the Zira Sirku, they would have found sources of high-quality crystals that were closer to home (some with Vilani miners already on site, ready to be pressed into service). If, however, the "Rimward Zuchai Galleon" ran for several decades, that particular colony would receive significant support before being abandoned (probably at some point during the Rule of Man), and could become the nucleus of an "Solomani-flavored" polity within the otherwise-canonical Universe, free from the Confederation's more distasteful elements (notably its flagrant racism and neurotic totalitarianism), with access to an untouched frontier.
Apart from the nature of the cargoes being carried, are there any other issues in the starship economics and operation rules that would create problems for voyages of this kind?
The big question that comes to mind is what sort of valuable cargo would justify making such voyages at Tech Level 11 or 12. I suppose one could come up with some kind of special "unobtainium" (perhaps an organic product that cannot be easily synthesized, like Herbert's "melange"), but anything that rare and valuable would be a significant addition to the Universe, and would have unexpected ripple effects. Furthermore, since Traveller tries to be hard(ish) science fiction, inventing "unobtaininum" that doesn't fit nicely into the periodic table of elements and/or flouts known physical processes cuts against the aesthetic grain.
I'm tentatively envisioning a "Manila Galleon" route set during the Interstellar War period, running from Terra out to a colony located far to Rimward. Terra would, at that point, be right at the cusp between Tech Levels 11 and 12. The Terrans had just discovered how to build Jump-3 drives, but lacked the ability to synthesize Zuchai crystals capable of storing and discharging the additional energy needed for three parsec jumps safely and reliably (the early prototypes tended to deviate from their planned "breakout" coordinates due to power fluctuations, and suffered catastrophic drive failures after making a few successful jumps). I believe it's canonical that natural Zuchai crystals tend to be longer-lasting than synthetic ones, so all this seems plausible.
At this point, Terra was establishing "throwaway" colonies far out to Rimward as "insurance." One of these colonies just happened to be established on, or close to, a planet that was well-stocked with large and particularly pure Zuchai crystals. Since the Terrans were desperate to build Jump-3 warships, they suddenly took notice of this hitherto-neglected colony, and began sending out freighters loaded with compact-but-valuable cargos (like electronic components and high-tech biomedical products), that returned carrying Zuchai crystals for the burgeoning fleet.
Obviously, as Terran technology advanced, their ability to synthesize Zuchai crystals improved. Furthermore, as they took territory from the Zira Sirku, they would have found sources of high-quality crystals that were closer to home (some with Vilani miners already on site, ready to be pressed into service). If, however, the "Rimward Zuchai Galleon" ran for several decades, that particular colony would receive significant support before being abandoned (probably at some point during the Rule of Man), and could become the nucleus of an "Solomani-flavored" polity within the otherwise-canonical Universe, free from the Confederation's more distasteful elements (notably its flagrant racism and neurotic totalitarianism), with access to an untouched frontier.
Apart from the nature of the cargoes being carried, are there any other issues in the starship economics and operation rules that would create problems for voyages of this kind?